The Early Show

The Early Show

Easy Stain-Removing Answers

Whether it's crayon on your child's clothes or ink or deodorant on your clothing, those pesky stains may seem hard to treat.

But consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen has some clever stain-fighting solutions. She showed "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith some easy stain removing remedies that people will find useful in everyday life.

For Koeppen, this segment imitates real life.

"So I do a load of laundry. Dry it. I start folding it. And I realize there is red crayon everywhere. I've never seen my husband cry until I showed him his brand new jeans that have red crayon everywhere," she said.

Koeppen turned to the Internet to find tons of concoctions, and thought "do any of these really work?" The main ingredient in most of these concoctions was vinegar, so she tried it out. She put all the clothes back in the wash and just dumped in a cup of vinegar along with her regular laundry detergent.

According to Koeppen, all the stains were gone.

"I saved his favorite jeans. And the other lesson I learned from this, always check the pockets and don't wash your clothes with your kids' clothes. That's my advice," she added.

Now for pen stains.

Koeppen sought out advice on the Internet and she spoke to some of the people at CBS wardrobe.

The trick for pen stains is rubbing alcohol.

"You just keep rubbing and eventually it starts coming out," Koeppen explained. "Rubbing alcohol. Again, a cheap, simple solution. You probably have it if your house right now."

Now, onto the next stain -- deodorant on your shirt usually accompanied by a messy deodorant stain on the outside of your shirt as well.

"Simple solution -- pantyhose," Koeppen said.

Instead of using water or something that will leave a stain, use the top of a pair of pantyhose, and it's all gone.

"What is about the pantyhose?" Smith asked.

"I have absolutely no idea, but I love it. Such a simple solution. Instead of taking a wash cloth or water or something that will actually ruin your shirt," she said.